Territorial varieties of English pronunciation — страница 7

  • Просмотров 4473
  • Скачиваний 19
  • Размер файла 60
    Кб

the American pronunciation and some advanced RP speakers are often heard saying [l] instead of [1] as in believe, for example. There is no threat in spreading it widely yet but it is quite common for pop singers now. It should also be mentioned that sometimes final [I] tends to be vocalized as in people, for instance, but is not likely to become a norm. 6. Glottal stop. In RP the glottal stop [?] can appear only in the following two environments: a) as a realization of syllable-final [t] before a following consonant as in batman [btman – [b? mn] or not quite [nαt 'kwait] – [nα? 'kwait]; b) in certain consonant clusters as in box, simply [bα? ks], [si? mpli], where it is known as «glottal reinforcements». The use of glottal stop by advanced RP speakers produces a

«clipped» effect on a foreigner. 7. Palatalized final [k’] is often heard in words week, quick, etc.: [wik’], [kwik']. 8. Linking and intrusive [r]. It has been estimated that all English accents are divided into «rhotic» or «r-full» and «non-rhotic» or «r-less». Rhotic accents are those which actually pronounce [r] corresponding to orthographic «r». RP is a non-rhotic accent but most speakers of it do pronounce orthographic «r» word-finally before a vowel: It is a far away country. It is known as linking «r». Failure by students to pronounce it does not usually affect comprehension but may result in their sounding foreign. As a further development and by analogy with linking «r», «r» is inserted before a following vowel even though there is no «r» in

spelling. This «r» is known as intrusive «r». The actual situation is that younger RP speakers do have it after [a] as in idea of, China and, It is said that nowadays in colloquial fluent speech there is a strong tendency towards elision, reduction and assimilation. This tendency is reflected in the pronunciation of the young generation: tutor [tu:tə], second year [sekəndia], perhaps you [pə'hpu:], gives you [givu:], as you know [əju: 'n]; in the transcribed texts of British textbooks: him [im], he [i:], her [3], his [iz], can [kn], from [firm], than [n], them [m], some [sm], suppose [spz], have to [hafta], usually [ju:wəli], last time [la:staim], and there was no one [ən ər wz'n wn]; even in the traditional spelling: C'm on, baby,

Sorry 'bout that Oh, le'mme see. Oh, I dunno. Must’ve put’em all together. Why d'you ask? What d’ja think? Alright! 9. Combinative changes. Sound combinations [tj, dj, sj] are pronounced as [t, d,] respectively, e.g. actual [ktjual] – [ktjual], graduate ['grdjeit] – [grdeit], issue ['isju:] – [iu:]. In the clusters of two stops, where the loss of plosion is usually observed, each sound is pronounced with audible release, e.g. active [ktiv] – [ktiv], sit down [sitdan] – [sit 'dan]. Non-systematic Variations in RP Phonemes Some free phonemes have appeared under the influence of the written image of words, their spelling. Unstressed prefixes ex – and con – have gained orthographical pro-nunciation: excuse [iks'kju:z] – [eks'kju:z],

exam [ig'zm] – [eg'zm], continue [kəntinju:] – [kan tinju;], consent [kən sent] – [kan'sent]. The days of the week: Sunday [sndi] – [sndei], Monday – [mndei]. Note also free variants in often: [afən] – [aft(ə) n]. Other cases: economics [ika'namiks] – [eka'namiks]. Now by way of conclusion we would like to state that not all the changes are recognized as a norm by most affected advanced RP speakers. Some of these changes are quite stable, some tend to disappear. The language is a living body and its oral aspect is most vitally changeable. But one should realize the importance of most recent developments, which, in opinion of many prominent phoneticians, may lead to radical changes in the whole inventory of vowel and consonant phonemes. Regional Non-RP

Accents of England As was stated above, we grouped regional accents of England into southern and northern ones. This division is very approximate of course, because there are western and eastern accents but their main accent variations correspond either with southern or northern accentual characteristics. Thus we would like to point out here the main differences between southern and northern accents. In vowels One of the main differences between these groups of accents is in the phoneme inventory – the presence or absence of particular phonemes. Typically, the vowel [A] does not occur in the accents of the north; e.g. South North blood [bld] [bld] one [wn] [wαn] but [bt] [bət] We can also note that many northern speakers while they do not have [A] have [u;] rather